Archive News 2009
12 September 2009
SFU AND MTFC SIGN DEAL.
SFU and MTFC today signed the deal to increase SFU's shareholding in the club.
Mansfield 103.2 were there live as the deal was signed. Listen here.
CHAD coverage here.
There was a presentation on the pitch before the game against Stevenage. Photo here as SFU hand over the cheque to the MTFC club owners before the game. (L to R: Andy Perry, Keith Underhill, Andy Saunders, Will Lord, Steve Middleton, Darren Shaw. Photo by Richard Parkes).
Listen to SFU Chairman Will Lord's speech here, and photo here (photo by Dan Westwell).
Will Lord writes: "Can I, on behalf of Stags Fans United, pass on our heartfelt thanks to all of those people who have supported us since our launch on the 4th June 2008." More here.
It is possible to join SFU for a minimum donation of £100 and SFU have now made it possible to do in monthly instalments. To join SFU, please use the membership form here. If you wish to pay in monthly instalments, please also use the form here.
1 September 2009
SFU TO INCREASE SHAREHOLDING IN MTFC
SFU met with its members at its AGM tonight to finalise an agreement brokered with the Football Club. We are delighted to announce that our members ratified the agreement. The Trust will now be purchasing a further 5.5% stake in Mansfield Town with an investment of £55,000, to add to the 3.3% stake we already own. As part of the deal, SFU will have a Non Executive Supporter Director on the board, who will be Colin Dobell.
Meanwhile, Will Lord is the new Chairman of SFU taking over from Chris Vasper, who remains on the board. We thank Chris for his tireless efforts in helping to reach the agreement with the football club.
What happens to the Trust now? The football club has offered SFU the opportunity to purchase a further 1200 Community Shares in the club. An important part of the agreement is that the Trust have agreed a fixed price of £10 per share for 18 months to purchase these remaining Community Shares. This leaves the trust with the task of raising £12,000 in 18 months to invest in the club. This will be achieved through fundraising activities such as a sportsmans' dinner and also through seeking to gain new members of the trust.
For more media coverage, including audio interviews with Colin Dobell and Will Lord, and a photo as SSA inject £15,000 into SFU, click here.
20 August 2009
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Stags Fans United have released a FAQ document in response to questions posed by members and supporters. Read the FAQs here.
Meanwhile, Will Lord, vice-chairman of SFU, talks to CHAD.co.uk, 20 Aug 09. Listen here.
17 August 2009
SFU IN A POSITION TO INCREASE SHAREHOLDING IN MTFC, PLUS NOTICE OF AGM
After many months of negotiation with the new owners of the football club, SFU are delighted to inform you that we are now in a position to increase our shareholding in Mansfield Town Football Club Limited. We will be holding our AGM on Tuesday 1st September at Field Mill at 7.30pm, to seek our members' approval to proceed with the Share Agreement and to carry out other business as outlined in our Notice of AGM.
Full statement:
Stags Fans United will be meeting with its members on Tuesday 1st September at its AGM to finalise an agreement brokered with the Football Club.
The Trust, formally known as TEAM Mansfield, will be purchasing a further 5.5% stake at Mansfield Town with an investment of £55,000, to add to the 3.3% stake they already own. The Trust has also been invited to have a Non Executive Supporter Director join the board at the club.
The £55,000 investment has been raised by supporter’s donations, through fund raising events and a £15,000 donation from the Stags Supporters Association and follows lengthy but successful negotiations with the clubs owners.
The members of the Trust now need to decide if they approve of the agreement going ahead and they are being encouraged to attend the very important meeting on 1st September 2009 at Field Mill, where they will be able to discuss the new share agreement with the Trust’s board and there will be a forum with the new owners immediately after the AGM.
This new agreement has been discussed over quite a period of time, and is the latest step in the much improved relations between club and supporter. Over the last 13 months the club has seen much greater openness, a much higher level of corporate governance than we have known previously, and a real willingness by the owners to engage with every single supporter involved with Field Mill and the agreement reached reflects the new owners' and the Trust's attempts to move on from the previous decade.
Read more here in the letter to our members
Read more here in the Notice of the SFU AGM
Copy of shareholders agreement here
Will Lord, vice-chairman of SFU, talks to BBC Radio Nottingham, 17 Aug 09. Listen here.
15 July 2009
PERRY TELLS AGM CLUB CLOSE TO AGREEMENT WITH SFU :
Andy Perry did announce that the club were very close to an agreement with the Stags Fans United organisation to get a fan on the board and it had already been agreed they would create a non-executive director's post for a supporter to take up once an investment from SFU was agreed.
from CHAD.co.uk, 15 July 2009, By John Lomas
http://www.chad.co.uk/stags/AGM-is-a-happier-affair.5463947.jp
SFU STATEMENT TO MEMBERS ON PROGRESS ON PURCHASING SHARES:
To SFU Supporters Trust Members,
As you’re all aware we entered into negotiations with the club some 8 months ago with a view to purchasing more shares in the football club.
We can understand the frustrations some of you may be feeling about the lack of news coming from the board of the Trust or the club in relation to those discussions, however we have agreed with Andy Perry, Steve Middleton and Andy Saunders that we would not discuss the progress until there was some real news to report. In effect we have all agreed to work within Chatham House Rules.
However we can report that discussions have progressed well to the point where we may be able to conclude an agreement with the members’ authority within a few weeks.
Once an agreement in principle is achieved we will notify you all via email and letter of a time and date for the AGM/EGM, which we encourage you all to attend.
All we ask is that you remain patient and be aware that we are doing everything we can to secure a proposal we can put to our members.
Can we again thank you all for your support and encouragement over the recent months, it has been invaluable.
24 May 2009
POINTS DEDUCTION - CONFERENCE WANT TO IMPROVE.
Brian Lee - "we have endured a difficult season. We want things to be better. We are introducing a new software system." Non-League Paper editorial - "the Conference's search for a new Chief Executive is a pretty good admission that they've made mistakes over the past year." Read here.
17 April 2009
POINTS DEDUCTION - SUPPORTERS TRUSTS KEEP UP PRESSURE.
Read here (with more stories linked at the bottom of that page).
6 April 2009
CONFERENCE STILL NOT ANSWERING QUESTIONS FROM SUPPORTERS TRUSTS. Read here.
30 March 2009 SFU Board meeting.
Minutes here.
29 March 2009
CONFERENCE REPORT HAS NO ANSWERS.
SFU's Martin Shaw and Mansfield Town chairman Andy Perry on the BBC Non-League Show. Listen here.
24 March 2009
SUPPORTERS TRUSTS WRITE TO THE FA! Read here.
18 March 2009
STAGS CHAIRMAN ANDY PERRY THANKS SFU. Read here.
15 March 2009
SUPPORTERS TRUSTS TELL CONFERENCE:
YOU STILL DON`T KNOW WHAT YOU`RE DOING! Read here.
11 March 2009
SUPPORTERS TRUSTS` LETTER TO THE CONFERENCE AND THE FA.
Read here.
19 February 2009
PETITION: OVER 5000 SIGNATURES. SFU SAYS THANK YOU. Read more here.
04 February 2009
SIGN PETITION TO URGE THE FOOTBALL CONFERENCE INTERNAL REVIEW TEAM TO RETURN ALL THE POINTS DEDUCTED. Read more here.
03 February 2009
SFU MEET WITH CLUB OWNERS
On 22 January, members of the SFU board met with the owners of the club with the aim of working closer with the club in the coming months. Read more here.
27 January 2009
SHAREHOLDERS URGED TO LEAVE DIVIDEND IN CLUB
Read more here.
22 January 2009
SFU Board meeting.
Minutes here.
18 January 2009
YOU DON`T KNOW WHAT YOU`RE DOING, SAY SUPPORTERS TRUSTS
Stags Fans United joins forces with OxVox (Oxford United's trust) and The Devils Trust (Crawley Town) to question the administrative procedures of the Football Conference authorities, following points deductions for all 3 clubs. Read more here and listen to SFU's Martin Shaw on the BBC Non-League Show representing the 3 trusts. A few days later, the Conference announces an internal review into its administrative procedures as the BBC says "With so many clubs in trouble, some supporters have questioned the way the Conference is being run."